


Worn Down

by whoneedsapublisher



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: F/F, Set between the end of the series and Rebellion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-26 07:53:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9874442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whoneedsapublisher/pseuds/whoneedsapublisher
Summary: Madoka's wish has been granted and her new world has come into being. Homura, left behind, struggles to adapt.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [marllasco](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marllasco/gifts).



> The original request was “injured!Homura being taken care of by Mami? Sprinkled w gay ofc”.

Opening her eyes in a bed that wasn’t hers was a common occurrence for Homura. It being a bed she didn’t go to sleep in was nothing new either. But the ceiling she was staring at wasn’t the sterile white of the hospital, and the low murmur of hospital noise was absent. Besides, waking up in the hospital wouldn’t make any sense now that her timeline resetting days were over, and she was living “happily” in Madoka’s new world.

So where was she?

Attempting to sit up to look around, Homura found she couldn’t. Turning her head to the side, her blood ran cold as the reason became obvious. Wrapped around her arm and criss-crossing her body were unmistakable yellow ribbons. Mami Tomoe’s binding magic.

Homura forced herself to calm down, suppressing the terror shooting through her. Magical girls no longer became witches, and with no Madoka to protect from contracting, Homura did not end up opposing Mami as she had in previous timelines. In this world, Mami Tomoe had no reason to kill her.

Why, then, had she trapped her?

Before Homura could consider her next move, the woman herself entered the room with two cups of tea. Noticing Homura had awoken, she started, looking flustered. “Oh! Akemi-san! I’m sorry, I stepped out for a moment to prepare some tea, I meant to be here when you woke up…”

“Mami Tomoe,” Homura said flatly, seeing Mami wince at her cold tone. “Why have you imprisoned me?”

“I’m not imprisoning you!” Mami protested, setting one of the cups down on the table in front of the bed and sitting on a pillow with the other. “You were injured and I didn’t want you rolling over on your arm while you were asleep.” A logical excuse, with two key flaws.

“…Tomoe-san. Either of us could have easily healed my arm already. And…” The most important factor. “…if that is the only reason I am bound, why have you not released me now that I am awake?”

There was a silence which quickly grew too long. Homura began subtly gathering magic to her left hand. She may have lost her time magic, but her new bow could burn through Mami’s ribbons. If she caught her off guard, then she could incapacitate her before she transformed and-

“I’m worried about you, Akemi-san,” Mami said softly. Homura ended up being the one caught off guard, her magic dissipating as she lost focus and simply stared at Mami, who refused to meet her gaze. “You’ve been… unusually reckless recently.”

“…I simply want to defeat as many wraiths as I can,” Homura said evasively, looking away as Mami’s eyes rose to meet hers.

“As many as you can… before you die?” Mami asked, her voice quiet. “You don’t bother to conserve your magic, and you keep taking on more and more at once. You aren’t fighting like someone who’s trying to live,  Akemi-san.”

 _I underestimated Mami Tomoe again…_ Homura thought. _Of course she’d notice something like that._

“…If you’re meaning to scold me for overconfidence, I think Kyouko Sak-” Homura began, but Mami’s fierce gaze silenced her.

“You are not Kyouko, Akemi-san. You’re not doing this because you’re careless or arrogant. You know exactly what you’re doing, and you’ve as much as admitted when you spoke of trying to defeat as many wraiths as possible.”

She set her teacup down on the table and sat up rigidly. “If I just let you go, you’d drain your magic healing your arm and then run off to find more wraiths. Why are you doing this? Did something happen? Is it…” Mami hesitated, as if knowing she was walking into dangerous territory. “…Is it to do with your wish?”

Homura frowned. Even in Madoka’s new world, plenty of magical girls chose not to speak of their wish and lost faith when their wish went wrong. She’d never spoken to Mami of her wish- well, at least not since she’d connected to this timeline. Honestly, she wasn’t even sure what her “real” wish was here- much of her “memory” of her life in Madoka’s new world before it existed was hazy. Guessing by Mami’s tone, she’d never shared it. She certainly hadn’t told Mami of what really happened.

And yet… Mami had somehow cut to the truth. Homura, indeed, was fighting more recklessly. She was growing tired of the burden Madoka had given her- but perhaps that wasn’t fair. Hadn’t she fought not to forget Madoka? The crushing weight of knowing Madoka’s wish, the world before, all the time she’d spent trapped in the same month, and grappling with whether it was even real, was as much her fault as anyone else’s. But she still wanted to protect the world Madoka had created. So she’d found the perfect compromise- if she died fighting to protect Madoka’s new world, she could meet Madoka again with a clean conscience.

But it seemed that even in the new world, her and Mami failed to see eye to eye.

Her first impulse was to oppose her. Attack the ribbons, break free and run. Fight her if she needed to. But there was no way she could do it this time. It was too much. She’d fought Mami too many times before. She’d seen Mami die too many times before. And now there were no resets, there was no Madoka to save, just her own selfish desires. Could she really face Madoka if she’d attacked an innocent magical girl to meet her again?

“…I’m just so tired…” she whispered, not even realizing she’d spoken aloud until Mami repeated her words back to her. “Tired? What do you mean, Akemi-san?”

Homura closed her eyes and sighed. “… it’s a long story. I’d prefer not to be tied up while telling it.”

Mami considered for a moment before she spoke.

“How do I know that you won’t just run away?” she asked, tracing her finger along the rim of her tea cup.

“…I swear on my wish I won’t run,” Homura said, looking into Mami’s eyes.

This time it was Mami who sighed, and with a snap of her fingers the ribbons tying Homura vanished, leaving only a ribbon sling for her arm. Mami reached over gently and touched her soul gem to the arm and Homura felt the magic seep in, repairing the shattered bone.

Homura stood and walked to the pillow across from Mami, sitting down and taking her cup of tea. After a long sip, she set it down daintily.

“I suppose from my perspective, it all began when I was released from hospital….”

* * *

“…Kyuubey didn’t seem to believe me, but maybe that’s for the best.”

Quite a few cups of tea later, Homura finished her story. It wasn’t an easy one to tell- how can you tell a person that in another world, another life, they tried to kill you and they died? Still, there was a certain release in saying it all out loud, in putting the story into words to ears more human than Kyuubey’s. The words that finally had somewhere to go other than bouncing around in her head. Mami had barely spoken a word the entire time other than small exclamations.

“…I believe you, Akemi-san.”

Homura blinked. Of all the reactions she had expected, that was not one of them.

“You always seemed… out of place,” Mami admitted, twisting a curl around her finger. “You’ve always been clearly a very experienced fighter, but you seemed clumsy with your weapon at first, and didn’t seem to know much about wraiths. You only half knew things you should, as well, but knew things you shouldn’t. And you always came across as… much older than you were, as well.”

She laughed sadly. “I suppose years of time that never happened can do that to a girl.” She set down her cup and stared firmly at Homura. “It’s a fantastical story, but if you say it’s what happened, I believe you.”

Homura just stared mutely back at her, unable to process the situation. Then tears started to slip down her face and Mami rushed over and embraced her as Homura sobbed into her shoulder.

“I… I didn’t even know if I believed it anymore…” Homura sobbed, as Mami patted her back. “It’s been so long, and without Madoka… I don’t even know why I exist. And the thought of her not being real… I’m tired of fighting, Tomoe-san.”

Mami held her gently as her pent up emotions burned out, leaving her feeling drained. Breaking away from the embrace, she leaned back against the bed and closed her eyes. After her breathing returned to normal and a short period of time passed, Mami spoke up timidly.

“…May ask something selfish of you Akemi-san?” Homura glanced over at Mami and she took a deep breath.

“Please keep fighting a little longer.”

Homura stared at Mami in disbelief, and the other girl blushed. “If… if you went back to meet Madoka now… I would miss you,” she said awkwardly, picking her words carefully and looking away from Homura. “I would be… lonely.”

Homura smiled weakly. “…How cruel to Sakura-san,” she teased.

Mami pouted and glared at Homura. “T-that’s different. Of course Kyouko is wonderful company, but it’s… just different.” She reached out and entwined her fingers with Homura’s. “I…don’t want you to leave me behind yet.”

Homura gazed down at their linked hands quietly. She could barely remember a time before Madoka was her entire reason to be, but now there was no Madoka, and she couldn’t centre herself on the vague mission of protecting a world that Madoka loved. Perhaps… it was time to try and remember something of who she was without Madoka. She had never considered that there was anyone worthwhile left behind without Madoka, but… perhaps Mami Tomoe saw someone there worth keeping around.

“…Alright,” she said, squeezing Mami’s hand. “I’ll be a little more careful.”

Letting go of her hand, she started to stand up, when Mami suddenly spoke again.

“W-wait! I-I didn’t use that much magic healing your arm. You should probably keep the sling on and rest here for a few days, just to be safe.”

Homura glanced at her arm. It was entirely healed.

“Perhaps you’re right, Tomoe-san,” she said, sitting back down. “Better safe than sorry.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Even mentioning this feels like cheating because I didn't write it into the story, but here's fun "author headcanon" that might affect your reading of the work: I don't think Mami actually believes Homura completely. I think she believes that Homura is from a different world or timeline, but she mostly just thinks that Homura needs to hear that someone believes her.


End file.
